Sound and fury, signifying speculation

The Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch leads off his Sunday rumour column with this proclamation:

November 30, Ottawa Sun: Marian Hossa's stay in the Motor City might very well turn out to be more than a one-year stint.

While the thinking around the NHL is that the Red Wings are only going to be able to keep two of their three high-profile UFAs -- Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen and Hossa -- next summer, there's a chance Hossa could stay in Detroit.

Though no formal contract talks can be held with Hossa until January, league sources told Sun Media that Detroit GM Ken Holland has indicated he wants to keep Hossa.

It would be easy to rule out Hossa's return because the belief is the Wings can't afford him if they sign Zetterberg and Franzen, but don't forget this is a guy who took a one-year, $7.45-million (all terms US) deal at less than market value because he wanted the chance to win a Stanley Cup in Detroit this season.

If Hossa was the type of player who just takes the money and runs, then he would have grabbed the long-term extension the Penguins offered him in the summer.

Instead, Hossa has shown he's not just motivated by the almighty dollar, which means staying in Detroit is possible.

I'm the first guy to tell you that Ken Holland of all people is the guy who should find a way to keep all three, but the, "mights" and "coulds" (subjunctive verbs), "league sources" spiel, and "possible" all indicate that Garrioch's guessing.

I'm certainly making an educated guess as to my optimistic belief that all three players will take less than market-value contracts, and that Holland can whittle out the cap space by letting some secondary scorers and a third-pair defenceman go to make room for cheaper alternatives in Griffins graduates, but my estimation is most assuredly an educated guess.